How Do I Improve My Conversational Skills?

 

 

If you are learning English as a second language, you will have already searched through many books and countless website pages on how to improve on this skill. The following key points, are in my opinion essential components to the successful development of this particular skill.

 

Listening:

 

This skill is directly linked to a successful conversation, yet most students fail to recognise its importance. Listening provides you with the information required to start, continue or end a conversation. It provides the subject matter, opinion or conclusion within the process.

 

There are various ways to acknowledge that we are listening to a conversation, ironically it is not all based on speech.our body language, posture, eye contact, gestures, facial expressions and actions play a key part.

 

I recommend different methods for developing this skill, watching visual resource by way of videos on the Internet or TV provide useful hints and tips. Recording your own voice and playing it back to yourself is also a valuable resource.

 

My classes are always based on your own individual need, but this topic is a common feature in all lessons. I nearly always ask students to record their own voice and send it to me via e mail. I use these recordings to help monitor pronunciation, speed of speech, punctuation and sound. The more confident you become is based on your ability to believe in yourself.

 

Mistakes:

 

We are all conscious of making mistakes, but without them, we could not learn. Consider that you are on a permanent learning curve, if you practice then you will eventually be able to overcome your fear of making mistakes.

 

Emotion:

 

This is our ability to show others that we care about what they are talking about. Showing interest in a conversation is another important feature of a conversation. We show that we care through words, but in most cases also by body language, posture and eye contact. These factors are considered skills that we already have and they are words that offer concern, interest, enthusiasm or the opposite.

 

Contact me for more details, remember that with this skill, it's not the vocabulary that matters but voice tones used to reflect emotion.

 

Participation:

 

It depends on individual circumstances as to the level of participation in a conversation. There is no right and wrong way to participate, some conversations are only based on your ability to listen and therefore require minimal effort to converse. Others require more talking and less listening so applying common sense and your experience in various situations is key.

 

Questions:

 

It's my opinion that all conversations are based around questions, as they will more often than not require a response. The ability to ask a question is easier than knowing when to apply and the timing involved. This topic is closely linked to showing interest, participation and emotion. Knowing when and how to apply is extremely important is a skill itself as not using questions properly could have an opposite effect.

 

As a teacher and a native speaker, I believe that you can have success provided you have the will, want and need. Confidence will take time, but remember that whatever method you choose to adopt in your study, it must be results orientated.

 

If you want to try one of my conversational classes just contact me either by the contact form on this blog, or email: learnenglishonline@gmail.com. All my classes are done through Skype and it does not matter where you are in the world, thank you for taking the time to read this article and I hope to see you in class soon!

 

Sanj Saigal

 

 

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